https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2991-0011
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Abstract
In this study, we aimed to explore the rural landscape transformation through the analysis of land use/land cover (LULC) spatio-temporal dynamics in the entire Vietnamese Mekong Delta over the three decades, using Landsat imageries and a supervised random forest classifier. Results indicated that in the 1990s, dominant LULC types were arable cropland, wetland, and permanent crops, which covered approximately half of the delta, 28% and 8%, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the wetland area decreased from 28% to 5% due to the expansion of aquaculture and the arable cropland. The aquaculture, however, expanded more rapidly than other land use conversions, namely, from 2% to 19%. Although mangrove forests slightly recovered by 58 km2 from 2005 to 2019, the overall trend (1990-2019) showed an intense loss of 740 km2 due to widespread conversions into aquaculture. The paper unravels the complex dynamics between land-cover change, socio-economic development and associated land-use policies, which have significant implications for the change in rural landscapes.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for their provision of remote sensing data and technical support. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge support from the Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship under the Japanese Grant Aid (JDS), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (Grant number: 10.13039/501100004532).
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
Disclosure statement
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.